Everyone wants a bit of a blissful breeze or a scoop of sunny sanctuary when looking for a place to live in Kentucky.
The more sun, the more you can go outside. The more you go outside, the more you’ll feel at peace. The more you’ll feel at peace, the more you’ll enjoy where you live.
So it makes sense to try and find the places with the best weather in Kentucky. We used Saturday Night Science to compare the number of sunny days, total precipitation, and the deviation from the ideal 70-degree weather for 40 places in Kentucky over 10,000 people.
Grab your shades and put away your raincoat as we look at the cities with the best weather in Kentucky.
294.3 sunny days · 67.1 degree average high
Located in
Henderson County, Kentucky
Henderson is a home rule-class city along the Ohio River in Henderson County in western Kentucky in the United States. The population was 28,757 at the 2010 U.S. census. It is part of the Evansville Metropolitan Area, locally known as the “Kentuckiana” or the “Tri-State Area”.
Data | Crime | Cost of living | Movers
290.8 sunny days · 69.1 degree average high
Located in
Graves County, Kentucky
Mayfield is a home rule-class city in Graves County, Kentucky, in the United States. It is the seat of its county. The population was 10,024 as of the 2010 U.S. census.
Data | Crime | Cost of living | Movers
290.0 sunny days · 68.4 degree average high
Located in
McCracken County, Kentucky
Paducah is a home rule-class city in and the county seat of McCracken County, Kentucky, United States. The largest city in the Jackson Purchase region, it is located at the confluence of the Tennessee and the Ohio Rivers, halfway between St. Louis, Missouri, to the northwest and Nashville, Tennessee, to the southeast. The population was 24,864 in 2015, down from 25,024 during the 2010 U.S. Census. Twenty blocks of the city’s downtown have been designated as a historic district and listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
Data | Crime | Cost of living | Movers
286.7 sunny days · 68.8 degree average high
Located in
Hopkins County, Kentucky
Madisonville is a home rule-class city in and the county seat of Hopkins County, Kentucky, United States, located along Interstate 69 in the state’s Western Coal Fields region. The population was 19,591 at the 2010 census. Madisonville is a commercial center of the region and is home to Madisonville Community College.
Data | Crime | Cost of living | Movers
287.6 sunny days · 67.5 degree average high
Located in
Jefferson County, Kentucky
Shively is a home rule-class city in Jefferson County, Kentucky, United States and a suburb of Louisville within the Louisville Metro government. As of the 2010 Census, the city’s population was 15,264, reflecting an increase of 107 from 15,157 in 2000.
Data | Crime | Cost of living | Movers
286.4 sunny days · 68.4 degree average high
285.3 sunny days · 68.0 degree average high
Located in
Bullitt County, Kentucky
Shepherdsville is a home rule-class city on the Salt River in Bullitt County, Kentucky, in the United States. It is the seat of its county, located just south of Louisville. The population was 11,222 during the 2010 U.S. Census.
Data | Crime | Cost of living | Movers
293.1 sunny days · 67.3 degree average high
Located in
Daviess County, Kentucky
Owensboro is a home rule-class city in and the county seat of Daviess County, Kentucky, United States. It is the fourth-largest city in the state by population. Owensboro is located on U.S. Route 60 about 107 miles southwest of Louisville, and is the principal city of the Owensboro metropolitan area. The 2016 population was 59,273. The metropolitan population was estimated at 116,506.
Data | Crime | Cost of living | Movers
288.1 sunny days · 67.1 degree average high
Located in
Jefferson County, Kentucky
Jeffersontown is a home rule-class city in Jefferson County, Kentucky, United States. The population was 26,595 at the 2010 U.S. census.
Data | Crime | Cost of living | Movers
288.7 sunny days · 67.0 degree average high
Louisville LOO–vl or LUUV-l) is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Kentucky and the 29th-most populous city in the United States. It is one of two cities in Kentucky designated as first-class, the other being the state’s second-largest city of Lexington. Louisville is the historical seat and, since 2003, the nominal seat of Jefferson County.
The receipts
Compare the top ten
Pick a metric. The bars rescale. The red line is Kentucky’s statewide median.
On the map
Where Kentucky’s best weather is
Saturday Night Science
How We Determined The Cities In Kentucky With The Best Weather
To rank the most fair weather cities in Kentucky, we used Saturday Night Science and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) database, to see which cities in the Bluegrass State get the best weather.
We used the following criteria to find the best weather:
- Number of sunny days
- Highest average low
- Average high deviation from 70 degrees
- Least amount of rain
- Least amount of snow
We ranked each city of over 10,000 people in Kentucky from best to worst on each criterion. We then averaged each ranking into a weather quality index. The city with the best index, Henderson, was anointed the city with the best weather in Kentucky.
Before we get too far, here are the annual precipitation rates for major cities: Louisville/Jefferson County metro government (balance) (45.4 inches), Lexington-Fayette urban county (45.5 inches), and Bowling Green (50.3 inches).
The cities with the best weather in Kentucky are Henderson, Mayfield, Paducah, Madisonville, Shively, Fort Campbell North, Shepherdsville, Owensboro, Jeffersontown, and Louisville/Jefferson County metro government (balance).
There’s a complete chart at the bottom.
The full plate
Detailed List Of Places With The Best Weather In Kentucky
Click any column to sort. Search by city name.
| Rank | City | Population | Sunny Days | Avg. High | Precipitation (Inches) | Snow (Inches) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Henderson | 28,889 | 294.3 | 67.1 | 45.0 | 5.6 |
| 2 | Mayfield | 10,101 | 290.8 | 69.1 | 51.3 | 4.7 |
| 3 | Paducah | 25,001 | 290.0 | 68.4 | 48.7 | 6.1 |
| 4 | Madisonville | 19,687 | 286.7 | 68.8 | 48.4 | 4.3 |
| 5 | Shively | 15,570 | 287.6 | 67.5 | 44.9 | 9.3 |
| 6 | Fort Campbell North | 13,936 | 286.4 | 68.4 | 50.3 | 5.3 |
| 7 | Shepherdsville | 11,695 | 285.3 | 68.0 | 45.8 | 6.3 |
| 8 | Owensboro | 58,350 | 293.1 | 67.3 | 46.4 | 7.1 |
| 9 | Jeffersontown | 26,953 | 288.1 | 67.1 | 45.4 | 9.1 |
| 10 | Louisville/Jefferson County metro government (balance) | 608,732 | 288.7 | 67.0 | 45.4 | 9.1 |
| 11 | St. Matthews | 17,837 | 284.8 | 67.1 | 45.3 | 8.4 |
| 12 | Hopkinsville | 32,483 | 285.6 | 68.4 | 51.2 | 6.9 |
| 13 | Elizabethtown | 29,657 | 288.5 | 66.7 | 47.4 | 3.5 |
| 14 | Murray | 18,515 | 282.2 | 68.9 | 55.2 | 8.3 |
| 15 | Bowling Green | 61,617 | 285.3 | 68.2 | 50.3 | 6.5 |
| 16 | Lyndon | 11,244 | 287.6 | 66.8 | 46.1 | 9.5 |
| 17 | Radcliff | 22,913 | 285.4 | 66.4 | 47.0 | 3.0 |
| 18 | Mount Washington | 13,736 | 279.3 | 66.8 | 45.4 | 6.1 |
| 19 | Glasgow | 14,224 | 279.7 | 68.7 | 51.4 | 7.9 |
| 20 | Georgetown | 30,968 | 281.3 | 65.7 | 43.7 | 3.8 |
| 21 | Fort Thomas | 16,326 | 285.9 | 65.0 | 41.4 | 12.7 |
| 22 | Newport | 15,428 | 285.9 | 65.3 | 41.5 | 14.7 |
| 23 | Erlanger | 18,510 | 295.5 | 64.2 | 42.5 | 18.2 |
| 24 | Lexington-Fayette urban county | 308,306 | 283.6 | 65.5 | 45.5 | 9.6 |
| 25 | Bardstown | 12,930 | 282.0 | 67.3 | 48.4 | 9.8 |
| 26 | Winchester | 18,388 | 281.4 | 66.0 | 45.6 | 8.2 |
| 27 | Richmond | 32,574 | 281.4 | 66.0 | 45.9 | 6.8 |
| 28 | Berea | 14,454 | 282.0 | 66.6 | 46.8 | 6.7 |
| 29 | Florence | 31,428 | 294.1 | 64.1 | 42.6 | 18.7 |
| 30 | Danville | 16,542 | 281.4 | 66.3 | 45.8 | 11.0 |
| 31 | Covington | 40,845 | 283.9 | 65.1 | 41.6 | 15.7 |
| 32 | Frankfort | 27,535 | 281.1 | 66.1 | 44.7 | 8.4 |
| 33 | Burlington | 16,892 | 288.0 | 64.1 | 42.3 | 18.3 |
| 34 | Campbellsville | 10,983 | 280.2 | 67.6 | 50.7 | 12.5 |
| 35 | Somerset | 11,358 | 278.6 | 67.4 | 49.6 | 9.1 |
| 36 | Independence | 26,062 | 283.0 | 64.5 | 42.1 | 17.1 |
| 37 | Ashland | 21,391 | 280.1 | 66.5 | 42.7 | 12.5 |
| 38 | Nicholasville | 28,843 | 272.2 | 66.0 | 46.1 | 11.0 |
| 39 | Shelbyville | 14,782 | 279.0 | 66.0 | 46.8 | 11.6 |
| 40 | Lawrenceburg | 11,038 | 272.2 | 65.8 | 46.9 | 11.1 |
Source: NOAA climate data. 40 Kentucky cities with more than 10,000 residents.
Summary
Summary: The Cities With The Best Weather In Kentucky For 2026
If you’re looking for the Kentucky cities with the most sunny days, the least rain and snow, and highs closest to a perfect 70 degrees, this is an accurate list.
The cities with the best weather in Kentucky are Henderson, Mayfield, Paducah, Madisonville, Shively, Fort Campbell North, Shepherdsville, Owensboro, Jeffersontown, and Louisville/Jefferson County metro government (balance).
